Juror safety will be paramount in the first U.S.-Mexico border sex-trafficking federal trial to be held in El Paso today, according to court documents.

The trial against Charles Marquez is set to begin in U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo's court once the 12 jurors and two alternates are selected.

"Due to the nature of the case and the likelihood of increased media attention, the court has concern for the safety and privacy of the jurors before, during, and after the trial, as well as for their continued objectivity," according to a court order filed Nov. 7. "Therefore, additional procedures should be adopted to assist the jury in performing its duties."

The procedures include keeping the names, addresses, phone numbers, workplace and juror identification numbers private, before, during and after the trial, except upon a court order.

The Nov. 7 court order also stated that the counts that Marquez faces include but are not limited to sex-trafficking of children; sex-trafficking by force, fraud and enticement; transportation for prostitution; coercion and enticement; conspiracy/coercion and enticement; and importation of an alien for immoral purpose.

Marquez, of El Paso, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Before the case was set for trial, he was given a mental evaluation to determine whether he was mentally competent. He was found to be mentally competent.

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Also last week, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas filed a document indicating that a 2003 Pilot Honda was subject to forfeiture in relation to the allegations.

Marquez, alias "El Puerkote," allegedly was involved in a sex-trafficking scheme that lured women from Juárez to work for Marquez as prostitutes in El Paso.

Authorities alleged one or more of the women in the scheme were minors, and that the alleged sex-trafficking went on for five years.

A co-defendant, Martha Jimenez Sanchez, previously pleaded guilty for her role in the scheme.

Marquez's lawyers previously indicated to the court that to prepare for trial they had to review about 10,000 pages of discovery documents, 10 hours of audiotapes, plus business and telephone records.

Last year, FBI officials in said that Marquez and Jiménez were partners in a cross-border prostitution scheme from 2007 until their arrests in 2012.

The arrests were part of "Operation Cross Country," a national effort targeting underage prostitution that netted the arrests of 104 alleged pimps in cities across the United States, officials said.

If he is convicted, Marquez faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to El Paso Times archives, Marquez was arrested by the El Paso police in 1999 and accused of promoting prostitution in connection with a business named Paradise Babes Escort Services.

State 210th District Court records show that Marquez pleaded no contest to aggravated promotion of prostitution, and was sentenced to two years of community supervision and 200 hours of community service.

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